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11/25/2005

Book Review - Software Piracy Exposed by Paul Craig and Mark Burnett

With all the hype currently being generated
about digital piracy, I decided it might be interesting to read Software
Piracy Exposed by Paul Craig and
Mark Burnett. There's an interesting subculture there that's unlike
anything I've ever known, and it's not quite what I expected...

Craig spent some time working himself into
a position of trust with a number of significant players in the piracy
scene. While not participating in the activities himself, he was
able to see how cracking and distribution organizations are structured,
and what drives the individuals to do what they do. Surprisingly
for software piracy, it's not necessarily being able to have and use the
software you crack. Mainly it's the bragging rights to say you were
the first to crack and distribute the package, or that you have the largest
collection and distribution network. I got the distinct impression
that most of the hardcore players in this culture don't even have the time
to use the software. Since these groups are competing against each
other, minutes can be critical in breaking a package open and getting it
out first on a network. And as soon as one is done, the next one
is waiting. If you spend days cracking something complex and then
get beat out by another group by a few minutes, you (and your group) don't
get credit for the hack and all the work was wasted. It seems like
music and movies are less intense so far as breaking encryption, but a
bigger deal to get it out early. Morals and ethics aside, it's a
rare look into a strange lifestyle...

While the book is pretty good, it did suffer
from some bad basic editing. Acronyms were inconsistently spelled
(MP3, Mp3, etc.), and I got tired of seeing the parenthetical description
of "warez" showing up time after time. Explain it once
at the beginning, and then move on. There were even a couple of times
when the explanation of the acronym was just plain wrong. I feel
if you're going to publish a technical book, you need to pay attention
to these things. Otherwise, it looks shoddy, unprofessional, and
rushed. While it wasn't enough to make me dislike the book, it did
detract somewhat from what would have been a very good volume otherwise.

Editing aside, it's a worthy read in order
to understand the mindset and reality of the piracy and cracking subculture.
Software piracy does have a financial effect on copyright owners,
but it's not a case of "every copy is a lost sale"...

11/24/2005

Updated my RSS feeds... Added a few names, and dropped one.

I had some bookmarked Domino blogger links
I hadn't yet transferred over to my RSS reader/added to my RSS blogroll.
I also dropped Scoble's blog from my reader again. I had added
him a long time ago and dropped him when I got tired of what seemed to
be too much "look at who I know" posts. Recently someone
suggested I start reading him again, and I added him back for a trial run.
I still can't get past the "gossip" posts (who was where
and who was talking to who at what seminar) to wait for the few informational
gems. I dunno... I guess I just don't get the Scoble phenomenon...

11/24/2005

Yes, I'm a Mechanical Turk addict...

It used to be when I wanted a break on the home computer, I'd pull up Hearts
or Freecell. Now I tend to call up Mechanical
Turk, Amazon's experiment in
having humans do things that computers don't do well (in return for micropayments).
It's not a matter of making three cents every time I pick out a picture
that matches the address and business they specify. It's more the
diversion and the interest in seeing small slices of other places.

For instance, I love doing MK tasks for New York. The small storefront
businesses, gratings pulled down, graffiti all over the place... Seeing
these 10 foot storefronts that have probably been in the family for years,
and have had generations be born, raised, and buried with the store as
the focal point in their lives. Chicago seems to have some of that
same element. Berkeley in California was more "pseudo-old"...
Storefronts made to look old and quaint, but they probably turn over
ever few years. Other places, like Santa Monica are more like strip
malls and mega-malls where you can't see specific businesses...

I find it much easier to make the match for older cities, as the businesses
are right on the street and it's easy to identify them. Newer cities
are more "faceless" in nature, and the businesses are further
away.

When it first started, Portland (my current location) was one of the cities
being covered. I even ended up with the entry for the consulting
company I used to work for (under their former name and former location).
When I forwarded the page (I saved it) to them, they laughed and
then asked if I had so much time on my hands could I do some work for them...
:)

I know I won't get rich doing this, and I don't expect to. But it
*does* pay far better than Solitaire, and it's more educational. :)

11/24/2005

What part of 24/7 did I miss???

I make it a habit to call our credit card companies when we go on vacation
to have them note that we'll be outside our regular spending areas. No
sense in dealing with rejected card purchases because you're not where
you normally are.
Chase card services are great... I can call two or three days before,
the person who answers the call can take the info, no problem.
Bank of America card services are less than wonderful... Can't place
the call until 24 hours before you leave, and they ask me like 20 questions
to confirm I know about the card (my current balance, my credit limit,
what purchases I'll be making, etc.). How should I know exactly what
purchases I'll make???
But today was the kicker. I called BofA, waded through the options,
went into the hold queue for a few minutes, and then got transferred to
a recorded message. The message was:
Our customer call center is closed for the holidays. Our call center
hours are 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please call back after
the holiday. Thank you.
What part of 24/7 did I miss there???

11/24/2005

Almost ready to vacation!

If postings slow down a bit over the next
week, it's because I'm not in my normal rut. The wife and I are leaving
the kids behind and taking off on a cruise to the Western Carribbean. Don't
know quite what the ports of call will be after the hurricanes went through
the area, but it's *supposed* to be Rotan(sp?) Honduras, Belieze City,
and Cozumel. Honestly, if we just float around for seven days, I'd
still be happy...

The laptop *is* going with me (yes, I'm
a geek, but at my wife's request) so we can be contacted by the kids in
case of emergency. Ship-to-shore calling is a magnitude worse than
hotel phone charges, so my wife figured that spending the money for the
internet wireless access on board the ship was a good idea. And who
was I to object? :)

So... There will probably still be
postings, but we'll have to see how the access pans out.

11/22/2005

Book Review - Yahoo! Hacks by Paul Bausch

"The reports of my death are greatly
exaggerated." That quote might apply to Yahoo when you look
at all the mindshare that Google has garnered of late. It's almost
as if Yahoo is irrelevant and Google owns the search world. Not quite,
and Paul Bausch's new book Yahoo!
Hacks - Tips & Tools for Living on the Web Frontier
reminded me of all the good and incredibly valuable things you can do with
Yahoo...

Like all Hacks titles, you have a number
of cool tips and tricks that you can do using Yahoo as your technology
starting point. In this case, there's 100 of them that cover a wide
range of topics. For instance, tip #39 - Monitor Your Commute shows
how Yahoo can provide updated traffic conditions overlaying a map of your
driving commute. Even better, those traffic updates can be formatted
in RSS and put on your My Yahoo page. I did that one right away.
Tip #83 - Randomize Your Windows Desktop Background shows how, using
Yahoo's web services API and some VBA code, you can create a random Windows
wallpaper each day. Just hope you don't choose a search term that
isn't "work safe". :) The whole Web Services chapter
shows how you can access Yahoo's API using a variety of languages such
as Perl, PHP, Python and a few others. Once you get the basic core
structure down, you open up a whole universe of possibilities in terms
of programmatic integration of Yahoo into your applications. This
is really cool stuff...

I've been just as guilty as the next person
of getting all "Google"-y eye'd at other search engines and forgetting
the site that opened up a whole world of internet realities. Many
of the things we take for granted now were ground-breaking ideas that Yahoo
was pushing in the early days. Having two strong competitors in the
search arena will lead to even more innovative thinking as they play off
of each other. I can see how the Yahoo! Hacks title could go into
multiple editions without even trying...

Excellent read with lots of code you can
use immediately. If you've wandered away from Yahoo for other pastures,
perhaps it's time to wander back and see what other options are out there.
Yahoo Hacks will expand your thinking as to what you can do with
search engines...

11/21/2005

I think Ozzie needs to rethink his definition of blogging...

A quote from today's
blog:
One of the great things about once again having an active blog is that
it enables me to engage in discussion about concepts I’m
excited about, and that I’m working on, before they’re fully-baked and
while they could benefit from others’ involvement.
Ray, "discussion" usually denotes an "exchange" of
views, not you talking and then turning comments off so no one else can
respond...

Ray's making too much news of late for
people to care much that they can't respond directly to his musings. But
the "me talk, you listen" will wear thin quickly, and any goodwill
he'll build up as a blogger will come crashing down quickly.

11/21/2005

Report on Banks Choosing Windows Over Linux Twists the Facts

This story isn't necessarily important
from a Windows vs. Linux angle. It is *very* important in that it
shows how a tech rag writer can come to conclusions (or slant their conclusions)
based on narrow views of the marketplace that don't reflect the wider realities...
The writer who analyzed this article did a great job.

Like all other eBay books, this one covers
how to buy and sell on eBay. The writing's good, but there'd be nothing
special if it stopped there. Where this book earns its keep is when
it goes into areas I haven't seen covered in any other book. I've
never seen a book go into any detail on other resources to learn about
eBay, such as call-in internet radio shows and newsletters. I've
never seen a book cover HTML in a small number of pages in order to allow
the seller to create better auction pages. There's good coverage
on third-party sites that give you more information on how to best price
your auctions. There's even material on how to evolve from buying
and selling as a hobby to running a business based on eBay. Package
all this up with clear writing and numerous screen shots, and you really
*have* found the missing eBay manual.

11/19/2005

Book Review - F1 Get The Most Out Of Excel Formulas And Functions By Joseph Rubin

If you spend much time in Excel as part
of your daily routine, you probably end up running across things you just
don't know how to do. Joseph Rubin's latest book F1
Get The Most Out Of Excel Formulas And Functions
might be a really good resource to bail you out when necessary...

There are a large number of "how to"
items in this volume, formatted with the pattern of "Problem",
"Solution", and "Explanation". Usually each of
these are accompanied with a graphic that represents the spreadsheet and/or
formula solution. The writing is tight and to the point, so there's
not pages and pages of explanations on any single problem. It's a
quick "get in, get out" type of tip that should point you in
the right direction. I even found a solution to a spreadsheet issue
I had (that I wasn't even looking to solve!). I have a spreadsheet
that tracks my Amazon reviewer stats, and a couple of the columns show
error statements for the blank lines because there are references to cells
that aren't yet filled in. With one of these tips, I am now able
to avoid that problem. Nice!

If you don't know Excel, then this book
isn't going to teach it to you. But if you've conquered the basics
and now want to do real work, this is a nice volume to keep on hand to
help you around the minor roadblocks you'll be sure to encounter...

11/19/2005

While I'm not a hardcore gamer, I understand
the thrill and appeal of having the baddest box on the block. If
that's your goal and you're willing to "roll your own", check
out Build
The Ultimate Gaming PC by K. R. Bourgoine
and Matthew J. Malm.

There are a number of things that make
this book stand out. The authors do a very nice job explaining what
each of the components do, how a gamer should view those components, and
what options are most important. For instance, Intel's hyperthreading
technology may sound really cool, but most games aren't coded to take full
advantage of that. Therefore, the AMD CPU with a slower clock speed
actually outperforms the Intel Pentium 4. The logical analysis of
those types of issues makes the book valuable even if you're *not* necessarily
building a gaming system. I also like how they actually recommend
makes and models of components, like CPUs, monitors, and sound cards. You
may not agree with their selection or you may choose a different model
based on your specific criteria, but you can see how choices are arrived
at, and how best to use that same analysis to make your decision. Part
3 ties everything together by showing you how to put the PC together, complete
with plenty of photos and clear explanations. Even if you've never
built a PC from scratch, you could probably follow along here with little
difficulty...

Definitely a strong recommendation for
a gamer wanting to build a box that rocks. I'd also recommend the
book to anyone looking to build their own computer by carefully analyzing
why they are choosing certain parts. Either way, it's a good resource...

What Bloch and Gafter have done here is
provide the Java coder with some educational opportunities unlike others.
They've taken code blocks that look like they should do one thing,
but actually do something entirely different. It's the job of the
reader to figure out what they *really* do, why they behave that way, and
how you'd change the code to get the result you were probably after. The
material covers the gamut of normal Java scenarios, including string concatenation,
looping, class definitions, and others. The code is available for
download from a website, so you don't have to type in anything to get started.
And of course, they *do* provide answers... :) Couple
all this great material with a humorous writing style and fun optical illusions,
and you've got a book that works very well.

The reason I like this book so much is
that most programming language books stick to the core material. We
all know there are exceptions and quirks, but you normally don't find out
about those unless you find a magazine article series that someone has
written. Even then, you're getting one or two gems every month, and
it's hard to keep the momentum. Having 95 of these puzzlers all in
one place means that you can dive in and start wracking your brain at your
own pace. I'd like to see this type of book for many other languages...

Most definitely recommended if you're a
Java coder with any level of experience. You'll be forced to question
things you've assumed in the past, and you'll come away a much better developer...

11/18/2005

Book Review - Point And Click OpenOffice.org! by Robin "Roblimo" Miller

I recently received a draft manuscript
copy of the book Point
& Click OpenOffice.org by Robin
"Roblimo" Miller. This is a nice book geared towards helping
the non-techie in your life realize that they don't have to dump a ton
of money on Microsoft Office...

The main thing to keep in mind with this
book is that it's not meant to be a comprehensive tutorial guide to all
the products in the OpenOffice suite. At 200 pages, you're not going
to go very deeply into any one area. But that's OK. What this
book does is show average users of Office how OpenOffice.org can give them
nearly (and in many cases, all) the same capabilities as Office without
the huge cost. In fact, they make a point of the ability to open
Microsoft files and save into Microsoft formats, enabling you to interact
with your friends who are plugging away with the "other" software.
They also touch on the support for the OpenDocument format which
is starting to become a requirement in some organizations. Since
Microsoft doesn't (yet?) support OpenDoc, OpenOffice.org is an easy way
to transition over. The thing that all readers will come away with
is the knowledge that if you've worked with Microsoft Office, the learning
curve for OpenOffice.org is nearly nonexistent. If you know one,
you can easily adapt to the other...

I'm not sure I would have included the
Firefox and Thunderbird material in the book, as it's not directly related
to OpenOffice.org. I understand why they did it, as OpenOffice.org,
Thunderbird, and Firefox make up the main alternatives to Microsoft (Office,
Outlook, and Internet Explorer) in the typical Windows desktop environment.
Still, it's a bit off-topic. No harm, just off-topic...

So... If you have a student who wants
something more than Notepad for school reports and who doesn't want to
trade running Office for eating Top Ramen for months at college, turn them
on to this book. Same goes for Uncle Joe who wants "that software
I use at work" but who doesn't want to pony up hundreds for a legal
copy. The alternatives will be clear, and your student will be able
to afford a pizza once in awhile...

11/18/2005

Book Review - Perfect Nightmare by John Saul

John Saul is one of those authors that
I enjoy reading, but for whatever reason I don't tend to pick up his latest
work right away. This time I got on the library hold list early for
Perfect
Nightmare, and proceeded to devour
it in less than 24 hours. It was a pretty good read... :)

A family is putting their home on the market
because the husband is spending too much time commuting into the city for
his job. None of them really want to leave the house, but the parents
feel it's a last attempt to save the marriage. The lone child, Lindsey,
is especially upset because it will be her upcoming senior year in high
school and she had a chance to be the head cheerleader. When they
have an open house, Lindsey gets pretty spooked at the thought of people
going through her stuff. She's convinced that someone took stuff
from her room, but no one believes her. Until she disappears without
a trace... The police finally believe there's an abduction (not a
runaway) when a single mother also disappears after an open house event.
The hard part is trying to find even a single clue to use to start
tracking down the abductor...

The pacing of the story was pretty fast,
and you just knew there was going to be a wicked plot twist in there somewhere.
Saul kept you guessing as to who the perpetrator might be, and why
all the psycho-sexual fantasies were occurring. A word of caution...
The novel is very, very dark, and it's not necessarily a "feel
good at the end" type of story. As a entertaining psycho-thriller
though, it works pretty well...

11/16/2005

Pardon me if I have my doubts...

Microsoft today released the findings
of an independent report claiming that the Windows platform
is "more consistent, predictable and easier to manage than Linux".

The study, commissioned by the software
giant from Security Innovation, a provider of application security
services, claimed that Linux administrators took 68 per cent longer to
implement new business requirements than their Windows counterparts.

The emphasis in the above quote is mine...

I don't care how "independent"
Microsoft (or IBM or any other software vendor) wants to claim a certain
report is. If you commission it, you set the rules. If you
set the rules, it's not independent. And if it's not complimentary
towards your company, it never sees the light of day.

Come talk to me about "independent"
reports when either IBM commissions (and releases) a report saying Exchange
is better than Notes, or Microsoft commissions and releases a report saying
that Exchange sucks wind compared to ND7 (and 6, and 5, and...)

11/16/2005

Microsoft *still* doesn't get open source...

"When people are talking about
on-demand, I don't know whether they are talking about the crazy, IBM approach
— "I'm going to host everybody's mainframe and there is nobody in
the market who knows how to run a mainframe, so if we are going to preserve
that business we are going to have to run it ourselves," said Fitzgerald.
"Then my cable company talks about on-demand when I can video on-demand.
It's not a super-useful term for me."

According to Fitzgerald, the real magic
of Live "is that it will be a combination of client software, peer-to-peer
interactions and cloud-based services so it is not any one of those —
it is actually the mix of all those things".

Now I won't necessarily say that I understand
exactly what IBM fully means by "on demand", but I don't necessarily
think that Microsoft's definition of Microsoft Live is very useful, either.
And notice the definition includes "that it will be".
Not "is", but "will be"... :)

But the part that really floors me is the
following about open source:

Equally, Fitzgerald has no time for
open source, which he claimed is not an end-user experience but "is
really a developer phenomenon that speaks to infrastructure."

"With Windows Live and Office Live
we are talking about customer experiences, whether it is a personal set
of services for Windows Live or things that are aimed at helping people
grow and manage their businesses," said Fitzgerald. "I doubt
if you talk to users of Office Live that they have any interest in dorking
around with source code. This is about customer experience rather than
developer experience so it's largely irrelevant."

Excuse me, but using open source code isn't
about "dorking around with source code". I use OpenOffice.
I installed it, I didn't compile it. And I don't have the source
anywhere on my machine. Same with Gaim for instant messaging. I
use it, and I don't even know what the source looks like. I can get
it if I want, but I don't need it.

Open source is about the freedom to use
the software as I see fit, not as another company defines.

Unlike some of the internet security books
I've read and reviewed, this one is actually understandable by those who
aren't full-time network administration geeks. Jones examines the
subject of tracking down computer crime (phishing, spam, etc.) by using
forensic techniques to narrow down potential culprits. This isn't
to say that there's a "follow these steps and nail the spammer"
recipe that can be applied in all cases. Too many things can be forged,
and spammers (in some cases) are pretty adept at hiding their tracks. But
by learning how to read email headers, domain registrations, and patterns,
you can learn more than you might expect. The nice thing about this
book is that the information is explained in a clear fashion that doesn't
rely on years of experience to follow. His explanation of mail headers
and how to interpret them might be the first time I've ever actually understood
what was going on. He also switches the view on some subjects (like
web browsers) to help you understand how to better hide your own tracks
to prevent others from finding out information about you. And if
you're trying to track down someone who's abusing your site, hiding your
own tracks might be critical in not causing him (or her) to bolt...

Important information, and extremely practical.
I guarantee you'll walk away with a couple things immediately that
you can use, and over the long haul the book will more than pay for itself...

11/15/2005

Ooohh... A bright shiny object! Konfabulator...

I think I'm gonna regret finding out about
this. I had vaguely heard about this software, but always in context
of Macs. I was blissfully ignorant until I read the 43Folders blog
and saw reference to a widget that did a countdown. I clicked on
the link, and saw that Konfabulator is cross-platform...

Press Release: Forbes "Attack of the Blogs" Article Misleads Readers

In an open letter to Forbes Magazine
editor-in-chief Steve Forbes, the Internet Press Guild (IPG) has spoken
out against the use of fearmongering and character assassination in financial
and technology reporting. With reference to a Forbes article called "Attack
of the Blogs," published in the November 14th issue of the magazine
and also online, the IPG's letter takes the publication to task for reckless
reporting that could prove harmful to the journalist community.

Among other offenses to the intelligent
reader, the Forbes article lays out a systematic methodology by which an
individual can help destroy the credibility of bloggers who are critical
of certain corporate conduct, including legal harassment and launching
smear campaigns. The spirit of the article calls to mind the climate of
fear and guilt by association that characterized the early 1950s, during
the "red scare" when intellectuals who questioned the conduct
of civil and corporate organizations were persecuted as "anti-American."

IPG chairman Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
said, "No matter where one stands on the question of journalist vs.
blogger, Forbes' approach would work equally well on either a seasoned
professional journalist or a newly minted blogger.

11/13/2005

Book Review - Self-Service Linux by Mark Wilding and Dan Behman

If you build software targeted for the
Linux operating system, odds are you're going to run into a sticky problem
now and then. You'll need to know how to debug either your program
or the Linux kernel to see what's going on. This book can help you
with that chore... Self-Service
Linux - Mastering the Art of Problem Determination
by Mark Wilding and Dan Behman.

This book has some pretty heavy-duty stuff
it covers. It starts out with a well-thought-out methodology for
debugging a system problem. These first 40 pages are like gold, and
they'd be well-applied by *any* system developer, not just a Linux programmer.
You'd think that developers would already know this stuff, but sadly
it seems like a lost art all too often. From that point, things get
deep into the different techniques for debugging problems specific to different
areas of Linux. You many not need all the different sections, in
that it may just be *your* program, not a problem with the kernel. But
having all the information on debugging techniques in one place should
cut down on a lot of research time, and will lead to much quicker system
resolutions.

As Linux continues to grow in the market,
I see the need for solid debugging skills to also be on the rise. This
book will likely have a long shelf-life...

11/13/2005

IBM, Sun team up to support OpenDocument

IBM and Sun Microsystems are to host
a meeting to rally industry support for OpenDocument, a specification for
standardising documents that proponents hope will spur adoption of software
that competes with Microsoft’s Office productivity suite.

The meeting, which will be held at the
IBM Learning Centre in Armonk, New York, is aimed at discussing with other
technology companies ways to advance the adoption of OpenDocument, says
Todd Martin, an IBM spokesman.

“The meeting is for those industry
partners who are interested in implementing and advancing the OpenDocument
specification,” Martin says.

11/13/2005

Book Review - XForms - XML Powered Web Forms by T. V. Raman

XForms is one of those technologies that
hasn't yet taken off, but could make a substantial impact if it ever does.
I got a copy of XForms
- XML Powered Web Forms by T. V.
Raman in order to understand a bit more about the subject...

In some ways, XForms is harder than just
regular HTML forms in that there's more data architecture that needs to
be considered beforehand. Conversely, you are able to achieve a much
better separation of data and design than possible under the HTML model.
Raman does a pretty good job in explaining the overall conceptual
model of XForms, as well as how it hooks into all the other "X"
technologies (XPath, XML Schemas, etc.). Once the groundwork is set
in Part 1, Part 2 becomes the reference manual on how to use each XForm
feature. It's not a huge reference manual, but the core information
is laid out in such a way that you'd end up using it on a regular basis
as you get up to speed. I found it all pretty easy to follow, and
I see how this could become a fundamental part of your personal library
if you're using XForms on a regular basis. Of course, the downside
is that XForms isn't yet supported on any widely-available basis... :)

If I were asked to recommend a title for
XForms information, this would probably be the one I'd point someone to...

Contents: Part 1 - How eBay Works: What You'll Find
on eBay; How eBay Auctions Work; Finding Stuff on eBay - The Basics; Finding
Stuff on eBay - High-Power Searches; What Is It Worth?Part 2 - eBay For Sellers: Seller Do's
and Don'ts; Figuring Out What to Sell; Sources of Items to Sell; Listing
Items - When and How; How to Create Listings That Sell; It Didn't SellPart 3 - eBay For Buyers: Buyer Do's and
Don'ts; Bid to Win!; How to Turn a Loss into a Win; Paying for and Getting
Your ItemsPart 4 - How Not To Get Ripped Off And
What To Do If You Do: Shills, Sleazes, and Seller Scams; Bogus Products
and Moneymaking Scams; How to Investigate Other eBay Members; eBay-Speak
- Abbreviations and Acronyms; Index

This is probably one of the most complete
books on using eBay that I've had the chance to review. It's not
overly large, so it's not intimidating when you first pick it up. The
progression of information follows a very nice logical flow. Learn
about eBay, learn what to do in both the buyer and seller role, and then
learn what to do in the "exception" situations. Regardless
of whether you approach eBay from the buyer or seller role, the necessary
information you need to fully utilize eBay is in here. The author
even goes into third-party services that can help you get the most for
your money. Some services track bid pricing and trends so you can
figure out the best combination of pricing options for your item. Other
services watch a bid for you in order to place last-second bids to try
and win an item you're coveting. Whether you think stuff like that
is fair or not, it's being used and you have to know how it will affect
you as a buyer.

Armed with this book, there's no reason
why you shouldn't be successful with eBay... Good stuff.

11/11/2005

Book Review - Core Web Application Development With PHP And MySQL by Marc Wandschneider

I had a blog reader email me today and
ask if I knew of any good books on PHP and MySQL. Being that I'd
like to learn more about both of those subjects myself, I recently had
requested (and had sitting in my review pile) a copy of Core
Web Application Development With PHP And MySQL
by Mark Wandschneider. If you're focused on *application development*
(rather than just learning how to create a dynamic page), then this book
works pretty well...

I differentiated the type of learning at
the start of this review on purpose. It's pretty easy to go into
learning a new language focusing solely on the nuts and bolts of the syntax.
That's really not the pattern that's followed with this book. You
don't just learn how to add some PHP code to your page in order to display
the time of day to the user. The goal here is to learn how to build
an *application* instead of just a single dynamic page. The layout
and flow of the book supports that goal well. You start with basic
PHP concepts and syntax. Then you move on to basic database concepts
that are used in MySQL (and in fact *any* relational database system).
Once those two basic skill sets are covered, then the blending occurs.
You start learning how to use PHP to read and store data in MySQL,
and those concepts are then used to build an end-to-end application. Throw
in the essentials of securing your application and making it bulletproof
for users, and you have a pretty encompassing guide for a development professional
to use.

If PHP and MySQL were going to be something
I used on a regular basis, I'd follow up this book with two specific titles
for PHP and MySQL. Even though this Core title is large, there's
no way it can cover all the details on either subject. And in reality,
I don't think you'd want that if this is your first exposure. A practical
volume such as this one will get you thinking correctly as far as design
and techniques go, and then you can decide if this is where you want to
commit your time and resources.

Nicely done book, and one I'd recommend
for your first PHP/MySQL experience. I'll be revisiting this book
myself in 2006 in order to pick up a few more skills...

If you've been part of a large organization,
you've no doubt been involved in a formalized review process (good, bad,
or otherwise). If the company takes it seriously, there may even
be classes for management on how to best work with the review process in
order to offer fair and useful feedback. But that doesn't always
make it any easier. Green takes the basics on performance evaluation
and presents them in a clear, organized manner. She's not presenting
some "new" formula or methodology on the process. It's
just the core steps and actions you need to be practicing on a regular
basis in order to have the material you need come review time. If
you take the time to understand why the review process is an ongoing activity,
then the "formal" review is far less painful, both to create
and to receive/give.

Even if you're not management, you could
find this useful. If you dread the review process, you'll find that
it's really a partnership (or should be) between you and your manager,
and you can contribute in such a way that you can actually benefit and
learn from it. It's you're keeping records and track of what's happening,
then you can be sure to have the necessary material on hand to show your
accomplishments of the year in the best light. This book can help
you figure out how best to do that.

Good for building a formal program (if
you don't have one) or for learning what to do personally to be actively
involved in the process. Regardless of your particular role, you'll
pick some good tips.

11/10/2005

Book Review - The Non-Designer's Web Book (3rd Edition) by Robin Williams and John Tollett

I've heard that the books authored by Robin
Williams (*not* the actor) on design are pretty good. I got my first
taste of that style today when I finished The
Non-Designer's Web Book (3rd Edition)
by Robin Williams and John Tollett. I can see why they are so popular,
and why she's considered a first-rate teacher...

Contents: Part 1 - Using the World Wide Web: What
is the Web?; How to Search the InternetPart 2 - Making Web Pages: What are Web
Pages Anyway?; Things to Know Before You Begin Your SitePart 3 - Design Issues on the Web: Print
vs. Web and How it Affects Design; Basic Design Principles for Non-Designers;
Designing the Interface & Navigation; How to Recognize Good & Bad
DesignPart 4 - Color, Graphics, and Type: Color
on the Web; Graphic Definitions You Must Know; How to Prepare Image Files
for the Web; Typography on the Web; Advanced Tips & TricksPart 5 - You're Done - Now What?: Test
& Fix Your Web Site; How to Upload & Update Your Site; How &
Why to Register Your SiteThe Stuff at the End: Quiz Answers; Index;
Colophon

It's probably best to first figure out
the target audience for this book. It's not a book full of HTML syntax
and how to code JavaScript routines. If you're looking for that,
move on quickly. The main focus is learning how to build aesthetically
pleasing pages by using solid design techniques, even if you're not a graphic
artist. The assumption is that you're using WYSIWYG-type web page
development tools that shield you from hard-core HTML coding. That
assumption frees up the reader to concentrate on images, layout, color,
font, and all the various things that can make a page look professional
or amateurish. The writing is extremely conversational (more so than
I've seen in nearly any other book) and maintains a humorous tone throughout.
Basically, it's fun to read and the information gets absorbed without
much effort.

While it might be tempting to say only
beginners should read this book, that might be an undersell. When
the authors get into the technical aspects of graphics, even the regular
web developer (who is more focused on code than graphical design) would
pick up more than a couple things. Again, web developers who focus
more on code don't tend to have a good eye for graphical layout. I
know I fall squarely in that category. Even the basic tips presented
here should help me make some improvements on a number of sites I'm working
on. And I'm sure this is much to the delight of my user base...

So... provided you're not picking
it up to learn HTML, you should get *something* out of the book. And
if you're not a graphical artist by trade, it's a *sure* bet you'll walk
away better equipped to catch attention on the web...

11/10/2005

My favorite "I'm not here" IM message from Ian...

To stay in touch while Ian's "mousekateering"
in Florida, he normally has AIM running either on the laptop or on his
phone. And he's usually pretty good about updating his "I'm
not here" message when he's away at work.

Part of my plans for professional education
next year (personal, not necessarily work-driven) is to become more familiar
with life outside of Notes/Domino. In some cases, it will be a "dig
in" experience with a language or a framework. In other cases,
it will be more informational in nature (which might spark an interest
to turn it into a "let's dig in"). The C# and .NET interest
falls into that second category. Core C# And .NET does a good job
in meeting my needs in that area. Part 1 of the book gives me the
overall background I need, and helped me to understand that C# and .NET
bear a remarkable similarity to Java and the JVM. :) The rest
of the book gets into much more coding detail than I'm ready to tackle
at this point, but it's all very practical and useful in everyday coding
scenarios. If someone told me my future is dependant on my ability
to code in C# and .NET, I'd feel very comfortable in making this my first
book for getting a broad understanding of the subject. Fortunately,
as of right now no one *has* told me that, but this book will be on my
shelf "just in case".

If you find yourself in the same boat I'm
currently sailing, and if you have a decent amount of programming experience
to draw upon, I'm confident in stating that this book would be an OK choice
to start down the C#/.NET river. Microsoft tends to dredge the river
and add new twists and bends that don't match existing maps a bit too often
for my liking, but you have to start somewhere. Core C# And .Net
is a good river map based on the current water flow...

11/09/2005

As close as I may ever come to getting /.'d...

A book I reviewed, Writing Portable Code,
was featured in a different review that was front page on Slashdot. There
was a link to the book's website. The lead page of the book's website
has a link to *my* site and my review.

Traffic is definitely up a bit today...
:) Still not my highest day ever, but it's in the top 5.

Fogel definitely has the "cred"
to write this book. He's spent five years working on the Subversion
open source version control system. While not (yet?) the default
open source version control system out there, it's rapidly gaining traction.
As a result, you figure that Fogel and company must have done a few
things right along the way. He does a very nice job in explaining
what makes for a successful open source project in terms of tools, structure,
and most importantly, culture. He identifies open source projects
that have successfully created a culture that encourages participation
without dictatorial control. He even addresses how to deal with people
issues like monopolizing discussion boards. Those are items that
most techies aren't good at, and having a guide like this is priceless.

At times the book seems to be rather dense,
as in a lot of text with little to break it up. I think it's because
there's no real use of graphics or code samples to a large degree. I
wouldn't expect it in a book like this, either. But still, it's just
one of those things that came to mind as I was reading it. If you
have the same nagging feeling and can quickly identify it, then it's easy
to deal with the problem.

Very valuable information, all condensed
into a single volume for easy reference. I'd maintain that anyone
looking to start an open source project with hopes of long-term viability
would do well to read and digest this book before starting. You'll
make fewer false starts and raise your chances of success...

11/07/2005

Book Review - Vanish by Tess Gerritsen

I'm trying to get caught up on a spate of library books that recently showed
up, and the latest recreational read was Vanish
by Tess Gerritsen. That book only lasted about 36 hours, so that
should tell you a bit about how much I liked it... :)
Detective Jane Rizzoli ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time when
she goes into the hospital to give birth to her baby. She ends up
in the middle of a hostage crisis where the captors are attracting way
too much attention from federal types who are very hush-hush about why
they care. Even after the crisis is ended, Rizzoli can't let the
case die as she's having nightmares about the last thing one of the captors
said to her. As she and her husband keep pushing to uncover the mystery,
it gets harder and harder to tell who should be trusted and who might be
holding back. And the wrong move could mean you're the next thing
to be "dealt with"...
This was a gripping read which kept me turning pages on the bus, at lunch,
before bed, etc. A warning to prospective readers... The main
story deals with underage girls brought in to the US from Russia via Mexico,
and subsequently put to work as sex slaves. Obviously a disturbing
situation, and Gerritsen doesn't gloss it over much. If that is something
that you really, truly don't want to read about, steer clear. But
if you can get past that point, you've got a gritty crime thriller that
doesn't reveal the truth until the last few pages. A very well-done
read...

11/06/2005

Book Review - The Rise Of The Rogue Executive by Leonard R. Sales and Cynthia J. Smith

Having been part of the Enron experience, I was very interested to read
this book: The
Rise Of The Rogue Executive - How Good Companies Go Bad And How To Stop
The Destruction by Leonard R.
Sayles and Cynthia J. Smith. It's amazing how we allowed ourselves
to get to this point...
Contents: The Tipping Point - How Good Companies Go Bad And Executives
Become Rogues; American Business At Risk - Picking Up The Pieces And Looking
Ahead; The Stock Market And Executive Decision Making; Black Boxes And
Big Black Lies; The Shocking Destruction Of Arthur Andersen, Auditing's
Gold Standard; Auditing The Public's Auditors; Directors - Why The Weak
Oversight; Too Silent Critics - Journalism; Too Silent Critics - Academe;
Fees Galore; How We Nearly Lost American Capitalism; The Mythic CEO - Why
Real Leaders Became An Endangered Species; Seeking And Valuing Real Leadership;
We Can Do Better; Endnotes; From The Authors; Addendum - Supreme Court
Overturns Arthur Andersen Conviction; Index
During the mad times of the dot.com era, so many things were considered
normal and were not questioned. Sayles and Smith take a look at some
of the elements that led to the rise and fall of companies like Enron and
Worldcom. Obviously Enron serves as a model whipping boy for most
(if not nearly all) of the examples, as there was so much going on there.
Rise lays out the abuses in a clear and concise manner, with a myriad
of example cases to back them up. I especially appreciated the chapters
on directors and journalism. I didn't realize that directors were
often no more than a glamorous collection of big names put on the board
to make the company look good. It's incredible that people charged
with overseeing a company's direction can have so little knowledge and
involvement in far too many cases. And we all know how few dissenting
voices existed in the mass media pointing out the flaws of these companies.
Ones that did try and raise objections were too often shut out by
others and were quickly drowned out. If only we as the public had
listened and paid attention...
While the book is supposed to offer remedies on how to stop this abuse,
it seemed like there was less of that and more emphasis on pointing out
the abuses. To be sure, the first step in stopping an abuse is finding
out about it in the first place. But for whatever reason, I didn't
feel a strong "call to action" in terms of a series of proposed
changes. I can't quite put my finger on it, to be truthful. Maybe
I was just too close to one of the meltdowns, or maybe the carnage of the
abuse overpowered the rest of the material.
Regardless of that, it's still an important book to read. I'd like
to think that what's happened in the last two or three years has allowed
us to turn the corner on these types of situations. Realistically
however, you know it's still happening. Rise will open your eyes
and make you think twice about what's going on in the executive suite...

11/05/2005

Went and saw Chicken Little today with the wife...

If what they say is true about Disney possibly
buying Pixar and the success of Chicken Little determining how bad they
need to make the purchase, then the answer (in my opinion) is that they
better pay whatever Jobs asks... Disney's first foray into CG animation
after the death of their hand animation department leaves a bit to be desired.

The technical aspects of the film were
OK. Nothing that I was blown away by, but definitely on par with
films like Madagascar. While I marvelled at some of the stuff that
Pixar did with Monsters, Inc., there was nothing in Chicken Little that
made me sit up and take notice. I think the main problem with the
film was the story. There are some funny sight gags, and a number
of funny lines of dialogue. But the story itself really didn't go
anywhere. The first thing I said to Sue when we left the theater
was "that movie had no soul". And this coming from someone
who doesn't do "subtle"...

It's a film that kids will like, and they'll
probably stay involved the whole 90 minutes. But if you're going
for your own enjoyment, you won't miss much by waiting until it comes out
on DVD. At least then you'll get extra features that may make it
a bit more interesting...

11/05/2005

Book Review - Running Blind by Lee Child

Continuing with the Jack Reacher series,
I'm up to the 4th installment... Running
Blind by Lee Child. Still liking
the series a lot, and this one had me guessing until the end...

Reacher is coerced into helping out on
a case by the FBI. He happened to be in a restaurant when part of
a gang came in looking for protection money. Jack took matters into
his own hands to break it up, but he also stumbled into an FBI stakeout.
Now if he doesn't help solve a potential serial killer, he might
end up getting blamed for the deaths. The women being killed all
were ex-military and had filed (and won) harassment cases against superiors.
Reacher knows them, as he was part of the military police presence
that was involved at the time. The women who are dying are all discovered
immersed in a bathtub full of camouflage paint, and apparently have gone
under voluntarily and without a struggle. No clues, no reason why,
but they're still very dead. The FBI is relying on psychological
profiling to narrow down the killer, but Jack figures that's all a crock.
The struggle is to figure out if they'll listen to him before another
victim shows up...

Like the other Reacher novels, you're never
quite sure who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. I figured there
would be a plot twist somewhere, but the one I got wasn't the one I was
expecting. Definitely a page turner to see how it's going to unfold.
The subplot at play here is the relationship between Jodie (from
the 3rd book) and Jack, and whether his foray into the world of responsibility
will send him packing back to his nomadic life once again. That came
to an interesting point at the end, and I'm curious to see how it will
play out in installment #5...

11/04/2005

Book Review - Upgrading and Fixing Laptops for Dummies by Corey Sandler

While I may be getting more comfortable
with opening up my desktop machine, I'm still less-than-thrilled if the
laptop starts acting up. Upgrading
& Fixing Laptops for Dummies
by Corey Sandler does a very nice job in covering the hardware components
of laptops and how to make sure they keep working when you need them to...

Contents:Part 1 - Putting a Computer in Your Lap:
A Field Guide to the Common Laptop; How to Treat a LaptopPart 2 - Explaining What Could Possibly
Go Wrong: Things That Go Bump in the Night (or Day); When to Repair and
When to Recycle; Surviving Basic Training; Brain Matters: Memory, Microprocessors,
and BIOSPart 3 - Laying Hands on the Major Parts:
Easing In to Hard Disks; Floppy Drives: Relics and Memories; Going Round
and Around: CD and DVD Drives; Tripping the Keyboard Fantastic; Putting
Your Finger on Pointing Devices; Seeing the Light: LCDs and VideoPart 4 - Failing to Communicate: Networks,
Gateways, and Routers; Feeling Up in the Air; Modems: The Essential Translators;
Breaking Out of the Box: PC Cards, USB, and FireWirePart 5 - The Software Side of Life: Installing
a New Operating System or Migrating Upwards; Adding or Removing Software,
for Better or for Worse; Essential Utilities for Laptop UsersPart 6 - The Part of Tens; Ten Quick Solutions;
Ten Essential Dos and Dont's; Ten of My Favorite ThingsIndex

Many of my cohorts in the IT world are
long-time laptop users. They're consultants, they're on the road
a lot, and they live and die with their laptops. The vast majority
of these people have probably done most of the things in this book at least
once, and there might not be much new information for them. But take
my dad. He's past retirement age, he travels around, and he got a
laptop so he could "check email while they're on the road". For
him, it's all a confusing jumble of technology that doesn't make a lot
of sense. A book like this would allow him to understand the core
parts of the laptop, know how they should be maintained, and more importantly
know when things aren't working quite right. For instance, defragging
a hard drive is second nature to me. For him, it's "de-what?".
Clean the screen with Windex? No, Dad... Why can't you
play a DVD? Because you have a CD reader... not a DVD reader.
Things like that... :)

If you're more at ease with technology,
you still might find some benefits here. I fortunately haven't had
many issues with my laptop. But what if the screen started to fade?
This book would give me a clue as to what was happening and what
options I might want to pursue. Water spill on the keyboard... repairable?
(The kids did it, and in this case it was.) While you might
not find the exact answer you're looking for here, it will at least reduce
your stress level as you figure things out.

Nice book, fun read, and the material just
could prevent some problems down the road...

11/04/2005

Want to really live on the edge with your
digital camera? Perhaps even void the warranty? Hacking
Digital Cameras by Chieh Cheng and
Auri Rahimzadeh might be to your liking if you want to build your own add-ons
without spending a bundle...

If you're the tinkering type that loves
to take things apart to see how they work, you'll find stuff here that
I haven't seen in other photography books. I think this is the first
book I've seen with a section on taking your camera apart... literally.
Once apart, you can start adding things like shutter triggers to
give you more options than a timed 10 second delay. I guess you could
also just go out and buy something that already does that, but what's the
fun in that? :) But not everything is quite as adventurous
as that. If you have a camera with no tripod mount, there's a nice
hack that shows you how to add one. You can go big time and actually
build a block that you can velcro your camera to, or it can be as simple
as gluing on a nut that's the same size as your tripod screw. Something
I wouldn't have thought of...

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd have the
guts to try a lot of this stuff. I'm not good with tools, and prying
open my camera would cause bad things to happen. Maybe not to you,
but it would to me. As such, I'm probably not the intended audience
for this book. But I was surprised to see what you could do with
a little ingenuity and a soldering iron. I can see where this book
would offer hours of entertainment for the right type of photographer/geek...

11/03/2005

Book Review - Building a PC for Dummies - 5th Edition - by Mark L. Chambers

I'll admit it... I buy my PCs when
I upgrade. I'm getting more at ease with hardware since I've started
doing all these book reviews, and I probably *could* build a PC now without
too much angst, but I still buy. But if I were to decide that my
next PC would be "home-built", I'd be comfortable with using
the book Building
a PC for Dummies by Mark L. Chambers.

Contents: Part 1 - Can I Really Do This?: What's
in a Computer, Anyway?; What Type of PC Should I Build?Part 2 - Building Your PC: Building the
Foundation - The Case and Motherboard; A Bag of Chips - Adding RAM and
a CPU; The Three PC Senses - Ports, Mouse, and Keyboard; Images "R"
Us - Adding Video and a Monitor; Make Room! Your Hard Drive and Other
Storage DevicesPart 3 - Adding the Fun Stuff: Putting
the Spin on CD-ROM and DVD; Let Your PC Rock!; Modems and the Call of the
InternetPart 4 - Adding the Advanced Stuff: Attack
of the SCSI Monster; So You Want to Add a LAN?; Life in the Fast Lane with
Broadband; Input and Output - Scanners, Cameras, Video Capture, and Printers;
More Power User ToysPart 5 - The Part of Tens: Ten Reasons
Not to Buy a Retail PC; Ten Tools and Tasks for a Power User's PC; Ten
Important Assembly Tips; Ten Ways to Speed Up Your PC; Ten Things to Avoid
Like the PlaguePart 6 - Appendixes: Choosing Your Operating
System; GlossaryIndex

This book is most likely going to appeal
to the hardware-phobic computer owner (like I was for quite awhile) or
the first-time PC builder. Chambers has an amusing writing style
which will make you smile as you figure out the next steps to take in your
PC adventure. If you've already built a PC or you dwell in the land
of needing to know every last technical spec of a device before you install
it, there's probably not much here to offer you. Even I know most
of the material *about* each device and what type of rationale you should
apply (buying new vs. refurbished, why hard drive capacity is important,
RAM is king, etc.). My downfall would be actually having all those
devices spread out on a table with an empty computer case in front of me.
But I'm pretty confident that I'd be able to stand a pretty good
chance of getting everything to actually work the first time if I followed
the information here. There's even a center section with color pictures
to show you what to expect. It's a nice touch...

If you're looking for an approachable book
on getting past your first computer build, this one would be a good choice.
Easy to follow, fun to read, and the intimidation factor is nonexistent.

With the emphasis on Service Oriented Architecture
(SOA) these days, it's likely that you'll be building systems that interact
with other systems in ways you may not have envisioned. And it's
a given that if someone is trusting you to provide a service, they're also
trusting you to make sure that service interaction is secure. Core
Security Patterns is an exhaustive volume on security as it relates to
J2EE applications, web services, and other associated types of applications
that drive today's business. The authors start out each section with
a clear explanation of the issues involved in security for that given subject
(like web services) and then go on to explain the different technologies
that can be used to address those issues. They don't get into deep
examination of specific APIs, but they do go into enough code to make a
Java developer happy. After all the issues and options are presented,
there's a presentation of security patterns that can be applied to a number
of application scenarios. The value of patterns is that you can architect
your system to take advantage of accumulated wisdom surrounding secure
applications, without having to redesign the wheel. You'll still
need to implement the design within your application, but the pattern gives
you the overall structure you need to consider. With the core patterns
found in this book, you shouldn't have to find yourself explaining why
a significant security design was flawed.

With software systems handling billions
of dollars in transactions each year, the stakes are high to ensure that
the system is solid and secure. Not only is the dollar amount at
stake incredibly high, the trust that others have in your organization
hinges on this key area. Spending money on this book now greatly
reduces your chances of spending millions to repair your systems later...
Assuming you have an organization left to repair...

11/02/2005

To follow suit with the rest of the bloggers... I'll be speaking at Lotusphere this year...

The email arrived with official news that
I'm going to be speaking this year. The Java Jumpstart is back, only
with a different partner. Since Joe
unfortunately can't present this year,
we found a very qualified individual to fill his shoes...

Actually, they're small shoes, so just
about *anyone* could have filled them... But we did find a highly
qualified replacement...

Want to support this blog or just say thanks?

When you do that, all your purchases during that session earn me an affiliate commission via the Amazon Affiliate program. You don't have to buy the book I linked you to (although I wouldn't complain!). Simply use that as your starting point.